According to the party, Khatib was detained at Heraklion airport on Saturday alongside Konstantina Kartsioti, a member of the Anti-Imperialist Front, ahead of a scheduled event focusing on the Palestinian struggle. Kartsioti was released after approximately one hour, while Khatib remains in custody.
In a detailed statement, Popular Unity describes the arrest as politically motivated, rejecting the government’s invocation of ‘national security reasons’. The party argues that such claims are a pretext, insisting that neither the Palestinian national liberation movement nor an international solidarity initiative such as Samidoun poses any threat to national security.
Instead, they point to what it describes as the real dangers to democracy, citing revelations surrounding the Predator surveillance scandal and reported Israeli connections to the monitoring of ministers, senior officials and opposition figures. It also refers to allegations concerning the funding of politicians and so-called ‘influence trips’, which it says expose who is genuinely undermining democratic institutions and popular sovereignty.
The statement further accuses the Greek government and the Hellenic Police of attempting to criminalise a Palestinian solidarity organisation in line with Israeli policy, noting that only the United States, Canada and Germany have so far taken similar steps.
‘While the genocidal attack on Gaza continues, the Mitsotakis government chooses to persecute solidarity activists and act as a willing partner of the Israeli state and its imperialist allies,’ the statement reads.
Popular Unity concludes by stressing that solidarity cannot be criminalised and demands the immediate release of Mohammed Khatib, as well as the cancellation of any deportation proceedings against him.
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